


Private Displays of Affection

by Arriva



Category: The Black Tapes Podcast
Genre: Alex and Strand are absolutely terrible at hiding their relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Nicodumbass Silver makes his bold return, Secret Relationship, Unsoundiversary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23581279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arriva/pseuds/Arriva
Summary: A grand total of five people caught Alex Reagan and Richard Strand kissing before they revealed their relationship.
Relationships: Alex Reagan & Nic Silver, Alex Reagan/Richard Strand
Comments: 12
Kudos: 26





	Private Displays of Affection

The first person to catch Alex and Richard kissing was the poor soul who just wanted to stop being haunted by a demon.

Richard argued that it wasn't a demon. Alex argued that they still should look into it. Either way, they ended up camped out in the bungalow of 32-year old Luke Forrester. Luke went to stay at a friend's.

Except Luke forgot his phone charger.

Which was how later that night, Luke walked in on the people he hired to investigate his haunted house instead kissing on his living room floor. They broke apart the moment the front door clicked open, but Luke saw it all. Alex on top of Richard. Richard's half-unbuttoned shirt. His only thought was _Why? Why me?_

His girlfriend had broken up with him last week. Was this some kind of divine punishment?

Alex apologized profusely. Richard stood awkwardly to the side and mentioned that so far they hadn't found any signs of demonic activity. The whole conversation passed by with a blur, if Luke was being honest. All he could think about was what compelled two paranormal researchers to desecrate his living room like that? Why couldn't he have walked in on friends? Why couldn't that be him and his former girlfriend? Why didn't she love him?

On the plus side, the weird noises he'd been hearing in the night turned out to be a family of possums. So no demons there. But while Alex and Richard may have taken care of Luke's demon problem, only Luke could take care of his relationship problems.

* * *

The next person to catch them was, fittingly, Ruby.

She saw in Alex's car outside Richard's house, kissing like two teenagers afraid of getting caught by their parents. Her first feeling was a mixture of shock and smug satisfaction. MK owed her twenty bucks. Her second feeling was panic. They hadn't seen her, but if she stayed slack-jawed on Richard's front porch, they would. Ruby thought back to when her mom walked in on her kissing her friend Cass junior year of high school. She was not about to inflict the same thing on Richard and Alex.

She quietly slipped back inside the house, now adjusting to the world where her boss and her colleague were seeing each other. She was a little miffed that Richard hadn't told her. Then again, Richard wasn't exactly a forthcoming person. But maybe that wasn't what she should be focusing on.

When Alex and Richard were kissing, they looked happy.

Ruby didn't bring it up until a few days later when she and Richard were going through old files in the basement. "You know, a cold compress is good," she said.

"For what?" an unsuspecting Richard said.

"Getting rid of hickeys."

Richard turned red as a tomato and avoided her for the rest of the day.

* * *

The next person to catch them was not one person but several people: the interns.

It really was a miracle that Alex and Richard managed to hide it this long from them. Four months was a record in the PNWS office. But the facade came crashing down at the office Christmas party.

Alex, in typical Alex Reagan fashion, had one too many drinks at the party. And this year, she'd invited Strand, who had also had one (or three) too many drinks at the party. Natasha was the first intern to notice, and later one she would proclaim that _she_ was the first one to discover them kissing in Alex's office.

In reality, it was a group effort. Natasha noticed Alex being especially touchy with Strand while "All I Want For Christmas Is You" played. Eric, however, saw Strand slipping a present into Alex's purse. And Annie was the one who deduced that they kept dutifully refilling each other's drinks. Really, the amount of investigative journalism they displayed that night could have won them a Pulitzer.

But none of this was definitive proof of a relationship. The interns congregated in the lounge to trade conspiracy theories. "They're together," Natasha said. "No question about it."

" _Or_ they want to be together, but they're too afraid to act on it," Eric argued.

"Actually, has anyone seen them?" Annie said. "In like the past hour?"

And that was how the interns found Alex and Strand kissing on top of her desk.

Up until that moment, none of the interns had really anticipated what they'd do if they found any real evidence of a relationship. Tiptoeing around PNWS, it almost felt like a fun game. But then they'd crept up on Alex's office, took advantage of the _slightest_ crack in the door, and well... there was Alex, sitting on her desk with Strand's arms wrapped around her and his hand slipping under her- Eric gasped, which prompted all three of them to bolt. Alex would catch them, or even more terrifying, _Strand_.

Despite Alex assuring them multiple times that he was, "really nice when you get to know him," the interns collectively feared the very tall, very grouchy man.

When they'd all caught their breath (and gotten more drinks), Annie brought up a very important question.

"Does Nic know?"

And just like that, the interns were back on the case with the journalistic fervor of seasoned professionals. They cornered a visibly intoxicated Nic later that night. "Hey, isn't it great that Alex invited Strand?" Eric prompted him.

Nic beamed. "Yeah they're such good friends!"

Drunk Nic had a crippling inability to lie. In conclusion, Nic did not know.

* * *

The next person, of all people, was Thomas Warren.

He'd been keeping tabs on Reagan and Strand through Daeva Corp's illustrious tech department. So many surveillance cameras were disappointingly easy to tap into. One was at a parking deck Strand used frequently. Warren had noticed Reagan and Strand were riding together much more often, but there could be any number of reasons for that. After all, Seattle had its fair share of traffic.

Then late one night, business had been especially slow. Progress on the Mysterium was happening at an agonizingly slow rate, so Warren, on a total whim, decided to check up on his two favorite investigators. From the camera feed, Warren saw Reagan and Strand go to his car, carrying boxes. Strand opened the back door where they deposited the boxes. He closed it. Reagan leaned against the passenger door, the bags under her eyes particularly visible tonight.

They exchanged a few words (if only the camera captured audio), before Strand did something unusual. He put a hand to Reagan's cheek. His lips moved; she nodded in response. Then she closed her eyes. Warren wouldn't have been surprised if she fell asleep standing up.

Instead, Strand tilted her chin up and kissed her.

And suddenly the night just got much more interesting.

The kiss was slow and tender, with none of the surprise of an early relationship. Warren sat back in his office chair, a smile spreading across his face like a toxin. This was a new development. Perhaps one that Warren could use to his advantage. If Strand's current relationship was anything like his relationship with Coralee Strand, Warren would no doubt be able to find some facets to exploit.

He was so busy thinking about the benefits of this new discovery, that by the time he looked back at the video feed, Strand's car was gone. No matter. Warren was certainly there would plenty more opportunities to observe the happy couple.

* * *

The final person who caught Alex and Richard before they came clean about their relationship was none other than Nicodemus Silver.

By then, Nic had almost caught them several times. One instance in particular he knocked on the door to Alex's office and walked in on Alex straightening her cardigan and Strand smoothing his hair down. If Nic hadn't been so wrapped up in _Tanis_ , he _might_ have suspected something was going on between them. But this was also the same Nic who took three weeks to notice Alex chopped all her hair off.

Alex didn't know what to do. "He's my best friend," she told Richard between sips of tea at their favorite cafe.

Unless a healthy does of skepticism counted, Richard did not have a best friend, and he was having a hard time figuring out where Alex was coming from. "If you think it would be more advantageous for Nic to know, I'm all right with disclosing our relationship.

"It's not that. I just..." Alex set her mug down. She had her hair down today, tucked into her scarf, and it bunched around her face like a stormcloud. "I kind of like keeping it a secret."

"In all fairness," Richard reached for her hand, "I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the benefits of keeping this private."

Out of reflex, her fingers intertwined with his. His hand was warm. The cafe was warm. She picked this spot out because none of her coworkers ever came here, but the cozy atmosphere was a huge plus. "It's so much simpler."

And maybe there was something thrilling about the clandestine kisses and the knowing looks they shared. Alex liked having something she didn't have to share with the rest of the world. She liked not having to deal with the questions they'd get and the PR mess of a journalist and her subject catching feelings for one another. But at the same, they could only carry on in secret for so long before someone found out. They'd already had enough close calls. Alex traced her thumb over Richard's knuckles, savoring this calm before the storm.

With a resolute sigh, she said, "Nic needs to know."

"Okay." Richard said. "So tell him.

"I will! I swear I'll find a way." Alex let go of his hand and ran her fingers through her hair. "I just need to figure that out."

"Figure out what?" a familiar voice said.

They looked up to see Nic standing there with his laptop and a steaming chai. A jumbled mess of thoughts ran through Alex's head as she realized her best friend was right in front of her, waiting for an explanation. "You- you're early," she stammered.

"Yeah, the meeting with Paul actually wrapped early so I thought I'd just come on over!" Nic said cheerfully. "What have you two been up to?"

Alex and Richard exchanged a look. "Just... talking," Alex said.

"Talking about something _important_ ," Richard added, his eyes boring into Alex.

Nic looked between the two of them in bewilderment. "Are you guys good?"

"We're great," she said.

"Very great." Richard stood, but the motion felt calculated. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go over some documents." He turned to Alex. "Will I see you after work?"

"Definitely."

Then Richard did the unthinkable.

Right in front of Nic, he leaned down and kissed Alex goodbye. Then he breezed out of the cafe. It was nothing more than a quick peck, the kind couples do hundreds of times. But those couples probably hadn't been hiding their relationship from their best friend for four months. Alex stared in his direction, absolutely flabbergasted. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to kill him or kiss him again.

Alex looked to Nic, who hadn't looked this dazed since he went missing for five days. "So... what was that about?" he said.

Scratch that, Alex was going to kill Richard then disappear off the face of the earth. "Strand and I had a-" Why did her cheeks have to be this hot? "We're together. Strand and I are together."

Nic looked down at his shoes, then at the chai in his hand. "Oh. Cool." Alex waited for an outburst. When he was this calm, he was either freaking out internally or choosing not to freak out. Nic took another moment to think. "Do you wanna get started?"

Now Nic knew.

And miraculously, it wasn't a big deal.

"God, yes."

Nic took a seat and opened up his laptop. For a few minutes, he quietly typed. Alex got her notes out. Everything felt normal. "You know you're gonna have to go to HR," he said coolly.

"I'm aware."

"Cool."

"Cool."

Maybe Alex wasn't going to kill Richard. But she was definitely going to kiss him again.

And again.

...And again.

And she didn't care who found out.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Unsoundiversary! I had so much fun writing this, and it was really nice writing some fluff during a very strange and stressful time. Everybody stay safe :)


End file.
